


Cold Hands, Warm Hearts

by KaiBlueOtaku



Category: Frozen (2013), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Coping, Elsa (Disney)/Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood) Smut, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Genderbending, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-09 01:23:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13470741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaiBlueOtaku/pseuds/KaiBlueOtaku
Summary: JackFrostxMale!Elsa [Elisar]: In an alternate timeline where the events of “Frozen” and “Rise of the Guardians” end around the same time, Elisar still struggles with feelings of fear, and a lack of self acceptance. He continues to distance himself often from others, his ice palace on the north mountain becoming his isolated refuge of safety. He receives an unexpected visitor there, and discovers that maybe he isn't as alone in the world as he first thought he was.





	Cold Hands, Warm Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> I realize this changes the context of the original Frozen story, with Elsa being male; Arendelle becomes a slightly less progressive country, placing the firstborn male child on the throne… But, i only write MSlash anymore, and this just seems like a great ship, i have to write it. Weirdly specific coping fics for the win...

When he was deeply distraught, as he was now, Elisar’s tears fell as snowflakes. Here in his ice palace on the North Mountain, he felt more free to express his emotions.

 

The people of his kingdom had accepted him unconditionally. They no longer saw him as a monster or a sorcerer, but as a kind and wise ruler.

 

He knew that Anna and Kristoff loved him, and he loved them back with all his heart, but perhaps therein lay part of the problem.

 

Watching the two of them together from a distance, picnicking on the palace grounds back in Arendelle or holding hands while wandering the market… It gave Elisar a pang of jealousy.

 

What Elisar had together with his sister was something special, and while he knew that his bond with Anna was very close and special in its own way, it simply wasn't the same.

 

Elisar found out quickly that, while still able to perform his royal duties and entertain visiting dignitaries, it was all a hollow and flimsy facade, constructed only of years of rigorous training. His upbringing was such that his private tutors coached him in every aspect necessary to a monarch, and they had performed their duties well.

 

But growing up with the mantra of “Conceal, don't feel,” with minimal contact with others, Elisar also learned lessons no one meant to teach him; Self loathing, maladaptive emotional coping, and inadequate interpersonal skills, to name but a few.  He was able to put up a mask in public, to be the king everybody expected.  In private though, he rivaled Anna for being socially awkward, except Anna was at least good natured and easygoing, and able to shrug off her faux pas.  The snow king of Arendelle was stiffer than an icicle, and more prone than his sister to shutting down or fleeing the scene of the crime whenever he got uncomfortable in the company of others, which was exactly what had brought him today back to the North Mountain.

 

He wept tiny, perfect snowflakes that fluttered to the floor where he was sprawled so ungracefully, the frozen walls and pillars groaning beneath the weight of his anguish. He felt alone, as broken as a shattered pane of ice, hollow and unable to reach out and connect meaningfully with others.  He was no longer locked in his room at the palace, but he was trapped all the same, just in a different sort of prison.

 

Elisar’s crying was abruptly interrupted by the echo of brisk rapping on one of the massive doors of his palace. He was so startled that he forgot his tears instantly, looking up as the massive ice slab creaked open, a voice calling, “Hellooo? Anybody home?”

 

“What do you want?” Elisar yelled back, foregoing all propriety and royal decorum here.

 

“Oh, there  _ is _ somebody here, huh,” the voice said as a shock of shaggy white hair came around the corner, followed by a piercing blue pair of eyes.  A young man stepped into the grand foyer of the palace, wearing a snow-dusted blue hooded sweatshirt and ragged brown pants that had seen some better days. He carried in his hand a staff of twisted wood, which was hooked at the end, almost like a shepherd's crook. He leaned on it as his gaze wandered the room, taking in the beautiful and complex fractal architecture. “Wow, this is amazing.” His eyes landed finally on Elisar, still mostly sprawled on the floor. “Are you ok?” he asked in concern.

 

Elisar's mind whirled with anxiety as he took the scene in, and he blurted the first random thought that came to mind. “Why are you not wearing any shoes?”

 

“Oh,” the young man laughed as he looked down, wiggling his bare toes.  “The cold never bothered me very much,” he told Elisar, chuckling to himself as though that were some sort of joke to him.  He stepped toward the king, asking again, “Are you ok?”

 

Elisar wiped his face with his sleeve, realizing he was still laying on the floor, and pulled himself together a little, managing to stand up. Out came the mask of propriety that he often hid behind when forced to interact with others, and he regarded the intruder with a distant, chilly demeanor, drawing himself primly to his full height, hands folded in front of him.  “What are you doing here in my palace?” he demanded.

 

The young man spun his staff mindlessly around like a baton, seeming like a fidgety habit, then settled it across his shoulders with his arms draped lazily over it.  “Oh… I was just passing by, and it caught my eye.”

 

“...Passing by?” Elisar asked incredulously, wondering why or how anyone would be simply ‘passing by’ his remote hideaway.

 

“Yeah,” the guest replied in a dismissive tone, his eyes wandering back to the architecture. “It's quite a piece of work, and in such an inaccessible location.  How long did it take to build, and how many men?”

 

“About ten minutes, maybe,” he told him, and watched him turn on him, his jaw dropping in awe. “And… Just one.”

 

“You're pulling my leg. Who made it?” he asked.

 

“I did,” Elisar replied simply.

 

The guest gave a broad gesture.  “You did all this, all by yourself? How?”

 

Elisar held his hand out before him, down low, drawing it upward and pursing his fingertips together.  “I just…” From the floor of the palace sprang swirling ice crystals, blooming like a fractal flower.  He lowered his hand again, splaying his fingers out, and the construct dissipated, crumbling into fine powder, which evaporated into nothing.  “...made it.”

 

The boy began to laugh maniacally, running his fingers through his hair, eyes wide in disbelief.  “No way,” he insisted.

 

“I’ve been called a monster before,” Elisar admitted bitterly, turning away.

 

“No, no,” the boy said, suddenly in front of the king. “I mean…” He held his hand out, palm up, and a crystalline ice flower sprouted and bloomed from his palm.  He handed it to Elisar, and he took it in bewilderment.

 

“But… How?” he whispered, examining the flower intently.

 

“I don't know,” the boy replied. “I thought i was the only one.”

 

“I thought i was,” Elisar breathed, and smiled softly.  “I'm… I'm not alone.”

 

“Yeah.” His smile looked about ready to split his face.  He extended his hand. “I'm Jack,” he said warmly. “Jack Frost.”

 

“You're…” Elisar began to giggle as he took his hand to shake it.  “Jack Frost? As in, THE Jack Frost?”

 

“The one and only,” he said with a wink. “Although i know a certain rabbit who would say that was one too many.”

 

“I'm Elisar.  King of Arendelle.”

 

Jack's expression registered surprise.  “You're a king?”

 

“Yes,” he assured Jack as he let go of his hand and conjured a small pillar table with a vase, in which to place the flower.  “Were you born this way, like i was?”

 

“Ah, no… It's a long, strange story,” he fumbled, staring hard at the vase.

 

“Cursed?” Elisar pressed, turning compassionate eyes to Jack.

 

“No, no, nothing like that,” the boy said.  “I, uh, I kinda… Died…”  Jack watched Elisar's eyes widen.  “But Manny brought me back like this. I was… Normal, i guess, before.”

 

“Do you think your friend Manny might know something about why I'm like this?” Elisar asked hopefully.

 

“Ahhh, about that…” Jack rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly.  “Manny is, uh… The… Man in the Moon.”

 

Elisar smirked, crossing his arms.  “I suppose i shouldn't disbelieve something like that, considering what we are.”

 

“Yeah… He only ever talked to me once, but i know somebody who might have some ideas,” Jack told him, and held his hand out.  “Do you trust me?”

 

Elisar hesitated, but took Jack's hand, and let out a cry as they lifted into the air, clutching at Jack’s arm.

 

“You can't fly?” Jack asked.

 

“No, definitely not,” Elisar quavered.  “Though i guess i never really tried before, either.”

 

Jack brought his arm around Elisar's waist and they shot through a window, moving with such speed it took his breath away. Elisar was surprised at Jack's friendliness, and the closeness of the winter spirit was… Rather intimate. Elisar knew he was probably just feeling a sort of common kinship with Jack, nothing more… Or was it? He glanced up at the winter spirit’s face as they flew, admiring his winning smile, ice blue eyes, and the youthful beauty of his face, wondering if there was maybe a little something more he felt toward Jack.

 

The journey wasn't very long. Lights loomed on the dark horizon, glistening in an expanse of snow. Jack brought them down, and waved at the yeti that opened the door for them. “Hey Phil, how's it hangin’?”

 

The yeti groaned amicably, and Elisar gazed up at the furry giant in wonder. Jack pulled his arm and he stumbled along behind him.

 

“Welcome to the North Pole,” Jack said, taking joy at the wonder in Elisar's face as they stepped into the lively great hall of the toy factory. Elevators and small airplanes whizzed through the air, toy trains rattling on their tracks along every wall, and dozens of yetis crafting toys while elves wandered around, mostly getting in the way or causing mayhem, much to the annoyance of the yetis.

 

A heavy-set man with burly tattooed arms and a white beard was wandering by, engrossed in a long scroll that he was checking off with a feather quill.

 

“Hey, North!” the boy called.

 

The man looked up, his face breaking into a huge grin. “JACK!” he cried, pulling the boy into a crushing embrace.  “You should have told me you were coming, i would have made fruitcake! Hey, go make cocoa for Jack!” he directed an elf, who was trying to disentangle his friend from an extension cord. North released Jack and looked up, spotting Elisar for the first time. “And he brings friend! Hello, Jack’s friend! I am North!”

 

Elisar stepped forward, his royal training and decorum kicking in. “Hello North, i am king Elisar, of Arendelle.” He extended his hand which North engulfed enthusiastically in his own massive grip.

 

“Elisar! Welcome to North Pole! Hey! Get cocoa for Jack's friend, too,” he told the elf, who had only managed to entangle himself along with his friend.  “What brings you so far? Jack, he is not dressed for cold, how can you bring friend here in such cold?”

 

“The cold doesn't bother me, Mr. North,” Elisar assured him, and held a hand out, a flurry of snowflakes bursting from it.

 

His eyes widened and he stroked his beard. “Now THAT is something,” he said softly, gazing at him with curiosity. “You are maybe guardian, like Jack?”

 

“I… i don't think so,” Elisar faltered. “I was born with my powers. Jack said his were given to him.”

 

“By Manny, yes…” North stroked his beard in thought. “This very strange… How you did find him, Jack?”

 

The young man shrugged.  “I was just flying past, and he had the most beautiful ice palace, sitting right on the side of the mountain. I had to stop and check it out.”

 

“Born with powers, you say,” North asked, and Elisar nodded. “Maybe Man in Moon has plans for you… i do not know.  Manny is, well…” he gave a jolly laugh. “Manny is Manny. No one knows what he does. He has his own reasons. You bring him why, Jack?”

 

Jack shrugged.  “I figured if anybody had answers, maybe you would.  We're so alike. There has to be a reason.”

 

“Probably so,” North nodded.  He wrapped his arm around Elisar, clapping his massive hand on the smaller man's shoulder. “Come. We ask Manny.”

 

Elisar was guided to a room that looked very grand, with intricate tile inlay on the floor. North waved at one of the yetis standing by a large crank, and it began to turn the handle.

 

The lighting in the room changed suddenly, and Elisar looked upward to see the ceiling retracting. Bright moonlight shone through the opening, until the full moon was visible through the gap.

 

“Manny!” North said in a familiar and friendly sort of way. “Jack brings friend to ask you question.” North pulled Elisar close and looked at him, gesturing toward the sky as if to say, “go ahead and ask.”

 

Elisar was a bit overwhelmed by all this. He gave an awkward wave, his royal training failing him in this moment. He'd been taught how to schmooze foreign dignitaries, but never how to address a celestial entity. “Uh... Hello, Mr. Manny,” he began nervously. North nodded in encouragement, so he continued. “Ah… Jack thought perhaps you might know something about why i have powers, like he does?”

 

North’s eyes were fixed intently skyward, and he stroked his beard and nodded, giving an occasional, “Mmmhmm,” as though someone was speaking to him. Elisar turned to Jack, standing to the side, who only smiled and shrugged, shaking his head. The Man in the Moon had only ever spoken to him that one time; he couldn't hear him the way the other Guardians did.

 

After several minutes of this, Jack and Elisar began to become somewhat uncomfortable. Just when Elisar was about to speak up, North clapped his hands together. “Ah, that's it then,” he said, waving to the yeti again, who turned the crank in the opposite direction to close the window.

 

North turned to the expectant young men, smiling widely. “Manny knows nothing,” he said.

 

Jack growled in frustration, shaking his fists in the air. “Seriously?” he asked, the disappointment evident on his face.

 

North pulled Elisar over to the winter spirit and put his arm around them both, one on each sides. “Jack,” he said very seriously, “Manny knows very much, but he does not know everything. You and friend here should not give up hope though. There may still be answer. Maybe Tooth knows something, ja? She will have friend's baby teeth, and memories. Maybe you get lucky, find something useful there, eh?” North clapped Elisar on the shoulder and beamed at him. “Nice to meet you, Jack's friend. You are welcome here anytime, you come back and visit again with Jack, ja?”

 

Elisar smiled in return. He was a little rough around the edges, but North seemed like a good fellow. “It would be my pleasure, Mr. North,” Elisar assured him.

 

“Here Jack…” North handed him a snow globe. “You travel this way, is faster.”

 

“Thanks, North.”

 

Before Elisar could ask what that was about, Jack grabbed him again about the waist and dashed the globe to bits on the ground. “Toothania’s palace,” he declared, and he and Elisar were sucked through a vortex, landing in the midst of a vaulted cavern whose ceiling was covered with ornately carved hanging spires.

 

A tiny creature that looked rather like a hummingbird darted up to them and squeaked emphatically at Jack.

 

“Baby Tooth!” Jack cried, and the two shared an awkwardly mismatched embrace. The small avian squeaked again at Jack, then flitted off.

 

Only moments later, some sort of more human-sized, greenish colored bird woman flew up. “Jaaaack!” she exclaimed, embracing him for just a moment or two past when Jack seemed comfortable. She laughed a little sheepishly as she released him, and turned to Elisar. “And you brought company! Ohhh, look at his perfectly spaced incisors…” She was going for Elisar's mouth with her fingers, but Jack grabbed her wrists and pulled her back.

 

“Elisar, king of Arendelle, meet Toothiana… Also known as the Tooth Fairy.”

 

She gave Jack another sheepish grin as he released her, and she extended a hand this time toward Elisar's outstretched one, clasping it in greeting. “It's so nice to meet you. Any friend of Jack's is a friend of ours, isn't that right, girls?” The flock of tiny hummingbird-people who accompanied her squeaked their enthusiastic agreement.

 

“Tooth, we were looking for some answers maybe about Elisar's unusual abilities, and North thought you might have a lead using the memories in his baby teeth.”

 

“Oh, I'd be glad to help! Meet me down at the grotto and we'll see what we can do about that!” Tooth and her entourage flitted away, and Jack led Elisar down many sets of stairs to where the baby teeth were stored.

 

“You don't have to do this, you know,” Elisar told Jack as they descended. “I'm sure you've got important… Winter business to attend to.”

 

Jack turned back and gave Elisar a winning smile, that gave the young king a not-unpleasant fluttering in his stomach. “Don't you have important kingdom business to attend to?”

 

Elisar grinned back. “Ok, ok, point taken… Yes, the kingdom can run itself for a short while in my absence. It frequently does, as a matter of fact, when i take my little… Sabbaticals, i suppose you could call them, to the North Mountain.” His countenance fell at his own words, and Jack paused, waiting for Elisar to come alongside him, then he brought his arm around the king’s shoulder companionably.

 

“Winter would still carry on, in my absence,” Jack began. “But, there's just a little something extra, something special and fun, that i bring to it, you know what I'm saying? There's something uniquely YOU, that makes the job you do just a little extra, a little something special.”

 

Elisar blushed slightly at Jack's kind words, and his closeness. It was nice, having someone with so much in common, someone who understood some of his struggles.

 

“How can you believe so much in me?” Elisar asked. “We've only just met, and even I don't believe that much in me…”

 

Jack pulled Elisar closer in a sideways hug. “Elisar, let me tell you, i know a thing or two about belief… Believing in yourself is the hardest part. It definitely helps if other people believe in you. Even if it's only one person. I'm willing to be that one person for somebody else, because i know how much of a difference it makes.”

 

Jack noticed Elisar's blushing, and considered letting him go. But, the king made no attempt to move away, and so he continued to hold him. Jack couldn't remember ever feeling so connected to someone. It was nice. He hoped that he would be able to spend much more time with the king. He made Jack feel a pleasant warmness in the pit of his stomach, that spread downward…

 

At this realization, Jack did withdraw his touch. He barely knew this guy, even if they did have an uncanny amount in common. “So, what does the queen think of your powers?” Jack asked.  _ There's no way a king would be interested in me, _ Jack told himself.  _ He's the ruler of an entire kingdom. I'm just… Just a goofy, fun-loving kid. I could never offer him anything that he doesn't already have. _

 

“My mother has been dead for years,” Elisar said, mourning the loss of Jack's touch. “I only just recently came of age, so, i hold the throne alone. There is no queen. I… My childhood was… Unusual. I've never really been around people much, aside from my sister, and the palace staff and my tutors, and, only then as much as was absolutely necessary…”

 

Elisar looked up at Jack, who was watching him intently. “I don't know why I'm telling you all this,” he told the winter spirit. “But, what i meant to get at, was that i haven't had much opportunity to meet people. Foreign dignitaries and visiting nobility don't really count, even if i am expected to choose a queen of royal blood, probably something that's beneficial for the kingdom, regarding trade and such…” Elisar trailed off, eyes distant.

 

“It sounds lonely.”

 

Elisar glanced up suddenly, surprised by his words. “There were always people around,” the king said, though his tone wavered. “I wasn't ever really ‘alone,’ per se.”

 

“That's not what i meant,” Jack replied. “You can feel alone in a room full of people… That's the worst kind of loneliness, really. Being surrounded by people, but, feeling like nobody really sees you… I understand that quite literally, myself…”

 

Elisar's jaw fell, his lips parting in his shock. “It's… I've never met anybody who really understands that part of me,” he said softly, giving Jack a warm smile. “I'm glad i met you, Jack Frost. I hope we can become good friends.”

 

They reached the bottom of the stairs and made their way to the grotto where Toothiana and her little helpers waited. She removed a golden cylinder from the wall, and passed it reverently to Elisar.

 

The young king took the case in hand, brushing his fingers over the beautiful inlaid lid. He suddenly found himself awash in memories; the accident with his sister, his parents taking them to the trolls, being locked away for the safety of everyone around him, the isolation, and finally the death of their parents, with no one to turn to in his pain and solitude.

 

When he flashed back to reality, Toothiana and Jack were staring at him, and he realized he was crying snowflakes again. He brushed the frost from his eyelashes and cheeks. “I… I'm sorry,” he whispered, passing the cylinder back to Tooth. “I didn't have a very happy childhood…”

 

“No ideas of why you have your powers?” Jack asked hopefully.

 

Elisar shook his head sadly.

 

“I'm sorry,” Tooth said compassionately, returning the cylinder to the wall. “I wish i could be more help to you.”

 

Elisar gave a sorrowful attempt at a smile. “It's alright. Thank you for trying, at least. It was nice to meet you.”

 

Elisar hung behind a few steps as Jack headed back up the stairs, looking back often, but not saying anything for a while. Finally, Jack paused, and let Elisar catch up. “Hey… Are you ok?”

 

Elisar tried again to smile, but the frost on his eyelashes betrayed him. “I'll be fine,” he whispered, turning his face away.

 

Jack's hand on his shoulder felt nice. Elisar wasn't used to physical contact and comfort, but he enjoyed the touch of the winter spirit.

 

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Jack implored. “There's… Not really anything i can do to help, but… Sometimes it helps to have somebody who wants to listen.”

 

Elisar laid his hand over Jack's. “I've… Never really had that. Somebody who wanted to listen. My magic is tied to my emotions, so after the accident with my little sister, i was taught to “conceal, not feel,” and kept away from people, for everybody's safety.” Elisar looked up at Jack, and the winter spirit brushed the light dusting of snowflakes off his cheek. Elisar brought his hand up, holding Jack's hand to his face. “You're… Really nice, Jack,” the king said, his brow furrowed at the confusing emotions he was feeling. “You don't have to do this for me.”

 

Jack smiled, and leaned his forehead against Elisar's. “Hey, what are friends for, huh? Besides… I was alone for three hundred years. I know what it's like. It sucks. The Guardians are my family now, and the children of the world. It's my duty to preserve the fun of childhood…” Jack gazed into Elisar's eyes, more blue than his own ice grey ones. “Seems i owe you an apology, on that one.”

 

“Apology? For what?”

 

Jack stepped back and twirled his staff around. “Your childhood wasn't very fun, you said. I failed you there. I'm sorry about that.”

 

Elisar shrugged. “I didn't really know what i was missing, i don't think. I still don't… Just… This vague sense of sadness, and feeling unfulfilled.”

 

Jack's face brightened. He snatched up Elisar's hand. “C'mon… I'll make it up to you, ok?”

 

Elisar was pulled along behind as Jack scampered back up the stairs. At the top, Jack threw his arm around Elisar's waist again and the wind lifted them both high into the clouds as they flew. Jack brought them down on a snowy mountain top.  “Do you want to build a snowman?” Jack asked.

 

Elisar shrugged in good humor, folding his hands before him. “You've seen my ice palace, Jack… Snowmen are… A little tame, for me.”

 

“Ah, right…” Jack looked downward, stroking his chin in thought. “What could we do then that might be fun for y…”

 

Jack's sentence was cut off by a snowball that hit him square in the face. He looked up in surprise. Elisar seemed sheepishly apologetic, until he saw the smile blossom over Jack's face. Then he cried out in excitement, laughing and running away from Jack, who was already forming a snowball in his hands. “Sometimes the best things in life are are the simple… Pleasures!” Jack's sentence was punctuated by the snowball that hit Elisar hard enough to knock him down.

 

“Oh crap,” Jack called, trudging through the snow to catch up to the young king and help him up. “I'm sorry aaaAaAAAAAH!” Jack shouted in shock as his step hit a patch of ice that Elisar had put right beneath his foot, and he slipped and fell on his back. They both laughed together.

 

“Sledding,” Elisar said, breathless, as he crafted a big sled with runners from ice. “My sister and i used to sled together, though it was usually indoors,” he said as he climbed onto the sled, Jack picking himself up and coming behind him. Jack called a gust of wind to push them, and he wrapped his arms around Elisar's waist as they sped down the side of the mountain.

 

They leaned as one to steer around boulders and the sparse trees that dotted the slope, then Jack sent a ramp of ice ahead of them, curving their path sidelong around the hill.

 

Elisar loved this… It felt like the flying, but it was less frightening to him… And he could feel the chilly but comforting embrace of the winter spirit behind him…

 

His attention wandered momentarily, and he missed a small rock jutting out under the snow, shattering the runner and catapulting them both into the air.

 

Jack caught the wind, but Elisar tumbled freely through the snow, reaching for Jack, who caught the young king’s hand, and found himself pulled down into the snowy descent.  Jack wrapped himself around Elisar, calling the wind to slow them until they came to rest on a snowy outcropping. Jack pushed himself up, having come to rest lying on top of Elisar, who was wide eyed and bewildered before breaking into laughter, in which Jack soon joined.

 

“You're reckless,” Elisar said, reaching up to brush some loose snow out of Jack's hair, his hand lingering on the winter spirit’s cheek. He felt his breath hitch, gazing into those eyes bluer than the sky behind him. “I like it,” he whispered, pulling Jack downward, pausing before their lips met, his eyes searching Jack's. He could feel the icy chill of Jack's breath, and it thrilled him.

 

Jack felt conflicted. They'd been having such fun, but suddenly the tension of the moment had grown thick. He felt a fluttering in his stomach, like a snow flurry, only, warmer. Elisar seemed to be feeling distraught as well, if his facial expression said anything. Jack wanted to ease his distress… The young king’s smile brought him such joy. He wasn't sure if he was reading the moment right though, and he was afraid of messing it up. “Elisar,” he said softly, the intimacy between them intensifying with his whisper. “Can I… Do you want me to kiss you?”

 

The young king gasped raggedly, biting his own lip. “I… I think so,” he replied with uncertainty. “I'm not sure… I've never kissed anyone before. But… I'd like to try.”

 

Jack swallowed nervously, shutting his eyes and closing the short distance between them, pressing his lips to Elisar's.

 

The cold tingle when their tongues tentatively touched caused them both to shudder. Jack pulled back and gave a gasp, their exhalations steaming in the air between them.

 

“Wow,” Jack panted, wonderment in his tone.

 

Elisar blushed, glancing aside. “I have to wear gloves, at home…” he murmured. “I can't touch people, i can hurt them with my cold touch… I've… I haven't had a lot of contact, with people. Physical touch.” He looked up at Jack cautiously. “It's… Really nice. I've just always been so afraid of hurting people, with my powers.”

 

Jack leaned down and pressed Elisar into another kiss, this one more hungry, more needy. When he broke it, he slid his cheek alongside Elisar's, nuzzling his ear. “Your magic can't hurt me, Elisar,” Jack reassured the young king, who responded only with a whimper, encircling the winter spirit with his arms and holding him tightly.

 

Jack's fingers tangled in Elisar's platinum locks, combing through them in a comforting gesture as he leaned into the embrace.

 

“It's not just my magic though that I'm afraid of hurting people with,” Elisar confessed. Jack came up on his elbows and leaned aside, meaning to roll off the king, but Elisar clutched even more tightly to him. “Please stay,” he pleaded, barely audible.

 

Jack stilled. He'd never been begged by a king before, for anything… Although he felt that in this moment, Elisar's station mattered far less than his humanity. Jack returned the embrace, holding him close. “I'll stay,” he replied, “but… Tell me what you mean, about hurting people.”

 

Elisar sighed into the side of Jack's neck, causing the winter spirit to stifle a guttural moan. This closeness was nice, but, definitely stirring up some feelings in him. He tried to keep them reigned in. Elisar seemed to need someone to listen to him, at the moment. That took precedence over any baser physical desires Jack had.

 

“I just mean… I don't have good skills. People skills. I was raised to be the successor to the throne, and all the trappings that being a good monarch requires. But, i wasn't really taught to be human. I was treated respectfully enough, but i think beneath it all was mostly fear. I was like a feral animal, i was dangerous, and so long as i was kept within my cage of the palace, there was little chance of me hurting anyone. It's part of why i leave so much… The palace feels so confining, it reminds me of the long years i was trapped and alone. When I'm outside those walls, i feel free. I can breathe. I don't have to worry about being Elisar, King of Arendelle… I can just be me. And in my ice palace on the North Mountain, there's nobody around for me to hurt or misunderstand…” As he spoke, Jack watched the ground beneath them both slowly creep over into fractal ice patterns, spreading outward from the king. “But… I'm still so alone.”

 

“Your magic is tied to your feelings,” Jack observed, and Elisar nodded to confirm.

 

“When i was young, i was told that “fear would be my enemy…” It wasn't explained very well, at the time. So, i lived my whole life afraid, and my powers slowly spiraled more and more out of control…” Elisar's fingers brushed against the shaggy white locks at the nape of the winter spirit’s neck, causing Jack to inhale sharply.  “It wasn't until i was grown that i learned how to un-freeze things. It was after a really devastating series of events, in which i almost killed my little sister… For the second time in our lives.”

 

Jack felt the snowflake tears falling against his neck, and he pulled Elisar closer, trying to comfort him. “I'm sure you didn't mean to,” Jack said.

 

“No, of course not… But, I'm dangerous, all the same. I'm… I'm afraid to let people get close, because when they do, they get hurt, because of me. But… This is so nice, Jack. Telling all this to somebody, and holding you, not having to worry about my touch hurting you.”

 

“I definitely agree about the last bit… I couldn't ever do this with anybody else… But, I'm glad that you're able to talk to me. It's good to have somebody to listen who understands what you're going through, even in part…” Jack rested his forehead against the ice beneath them both, sighing against Elisar's ear. He'd been trying to work up his courage to say something. “Um… Elisar? I… I don't mean to make things awkward, and this is really nice, but… Is this enough for you? Is… Is this all that you want? Just to be held like this? Because, i mean… I'm enjoying this a lot… But… I'm still just a guy, after all. And, this is… The closeness is giving me… Feelings. I won't do anything of course, if this is all you want. But… If you wanted something more… I… I think i would be agreeable to that.”

 

Elisar blushed deeply into the shoulder of Jack's frost-dusted hoodie. He'd been thinking thoughts along those lines himself, but had been too self conscious to say them aloud. He felt relieved though, knowing that yet again, he was not alone, thanks to Jack Frost.

 

“I… Um… I do have… Feelings, for you, Jack,” Elisar fumbled. “But… I don't think I'm quite ready for anything more than this yet.”

 

“Oh! No, of course, i didn't mean, like, right now,” Jack replied hastily. “But… Yeah. Think on it, if you want to… I've never done anything like THAT with anybody before, of course, though I've seen through enough bedroom windows to know how it's done… I mean, not that I've been peeping on purpose. Just… Sometimes i see things while I'm frosting the glass, you know?” He laughed nervously. “But… Yeah. I… I like you. More than just a friend, i think. Maybe it's just having so much in common, i don't really know… I mean, I'm sure it helps a lot that you're the only person I've known in three hundred years who could stand my touch for more than a few moments… Is… Is that gonna be ok? Me liking you, with you being the king? I just… I didn't want to be here like this and, be feeling like… Y’know… And not tell you. I thought you should know.”

 

Elisar smiled, nuzzling against Jack's neck. “I think it's going to be ok, us liking each other… And I've been feeling pretty “y’know” myself… I'm… Just not quite ready to do anything more about it yet. But, thank you, for telling me. I don't think i could have said it myself.” Elisar kissed Jack's neck and felt the winter spirit's hip thrust compulsively forward against his own, small guttural moans escaping both their lips as they each felt the other's hardness through their pants. “Well… Maybe just a LITTLE something more,” Elisar murmured into Jack's ear as his lips closed around the edge of it.

 

“Oh god,” Jack hissed, his fingers fisting in Elisar's hair, his other hand clawing at the king's back through his cloak. “That… Hnngh… Feels really good… But, if you're not ready yet, we gotta stop… I'm… I'm getting really riled.”

 

The king laughed lightly as he pulled away, loosening his grip on Jack so the winter spirit could roll aside. They grinned sheepishly at one another, and Jack leaned in to give Elisar a quick kiss again before standing and offering his hand to his companion.

 

Elisar took it and stood, brushing himself off. “Well, i would definitely say that you’re making good on your word.” Jack looked at him with confusion. “I'm having terrible fun with you,” Elisar confessed with a giggle.

 

Jack laughed heartily at this. “Yeah, i guess we ARE having fun, aren't we?” He took a step over to his staff, which lay in the snow alongside where they had been lying together, and hooked his toe under it, kicking it up into the air and catching it in his hand, giving it a theatrical twirl before righting it. “C'mon… If we're going to maybe be involved, i want you to meet the rest of my family.” And with that, Jack wrapped his arms firmly around Elisar's waist, without the slightest hint of hesitation, and the two of them rose on the wind into the clouds.


End file.
